The Rising Suicidal Tendency

Mohammad Rizwan
The greatest gift that the Almighty has bestowed upon us is the life itself. We can savor the materialistic things only when we are alive. So, goes the saying in Urdu, “jaan hai toh jahan hai.” A person can sacrifice everything for the sake of his life, be it a big bungalow, a luxurious car or anything else, because one can earn these things again but a life can never be earned again. To love one’s life is a human trait, it is natural. However, there has been a surge in suicide rate in recent times, especially after the sudden and shocking suicide by the famous Bollywood actor, Sushant Singh Rajput and after some months the more shocking suicide by a woman named Ayesha which was recorded and took social media by storm. Not only in other parts of India, this menace is spreading such quickly in our beloved valley that in a matter of just a few months, many people have ended their lives. Why is this menace spreading so quickly? What could be the possible causes and how can we put an end to this menace? This is our collective responsibility to find answers of these questions.

In Islam, suicide is considered as one of the most hated and cowardly acts and has been strictly prohibited. The natural human trait is to face the difficulties with courage and find out a solution of the problem instead of running away form the problem and life too. Almighty has given the highest status to humans and has given us the capabilities to think and act so that we can give a message to the world that Islam is a complete religion. Now that when a person gets fed up of his personal matters to such an extent that he ends his own life, what kind of a message are we giving out about Islam? Dr. Allama Iqbal has also taught us to think positively and has encouraged youth to have a revolutionary mindset. He has advised Muslims to have an independent mindset. Whatever he has written throughout his life, he has written it for the unity of Muslims. He had immense love and affection towards children and youth and expected them to have revolutionary mindset. He described children and youth with the metaphor of falcon because a falcon does not make a nest, instead flies high in the skies with self-respect. He wished that these qualities should develop in young minds so that they can form an exemplary society-

Tu shaheen hai parwaaz hai kaam tera

Tere aage aasman aur bhi hain

(A falcon you are, flight being your pursuit

Many skies are yet to be conquered)

Now the question that arises is that why are the falcon-like youth getting driven into ending their lives? Every single day, we come across various news on social media regarding suicide. A person, an officer, a youth ended his/her life. A woman hanged herself or jumped in a river and ended her life. Whenever we come across such news, a question always flashes up in our mind: Why? Let us find out.

Financial crisis, family problems, harassment or oppression, violations of rights, dowry and other unnecessary customs are some of the main reasons leading to suicide. Upon pondering on the issue, the main reason behind the rising cases in Muslims is that we have diverted from the path of Islam. The Almighty often tests humans by certain difficulties and problems in order to make us pure. While some of the people succeed by dealing with the problems with courage, the other fall prey to these difficulties and end their lives, which not only is a worldly loss but they also make their afterlife miserable. A human is supposed to have complete faith in Almighty Allah that He is the one who will put an end to my miseries.

We can imagine how valuable a human life is for the Almighty by going back to the age of ignorance, when people used to kill their own children so that they won’t have to raise them, thus reducing the financial crisis. Islam not only criticized the custom but prohibited it too. In Surah Bani Israel, it was revealed, “don’t kill your children for fear of poverty; we give them sustenance and yourself too.” Similarly, there are many orders in Quran which show us the value of a human life. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) has said; “He who commits suicide by throttling shall keep on throttling himself in the Hell Fire (forever) and he who commits suicide by stabbing himself shall keep on stabbing himself in the Hell-Fire.” Further, “Whosoever kills himself with anything in this world will be tortured with it on the Day of Judgment.”

The life is indeed a great gift from Allah. Our whole existence belongs to Him and to protect it is our responsibility. Ups and downs are the part and parcel of life and facing them instead of running away is an act of bravery and courage. Moreover, by committing suicide, nobody goes to Heaven.

Ab to ghabra ke ye kahte hain ki mar jyenge

Mar ke bhi chain na paaya to kidhar jayenge